Method for scrolling through digital content in mobile terminal and mobile terminal device for same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a scrolling method in a mobile terminal. When a user drags a touch point drawing a circular trajectory on a screen, a scroll direction and a scroll speed are determined based on the dragging direction and the size of the circular trajectory, respectively. Therefore, according to the present invention, precise and intuitive scrolling control is enabled even when a multimedia file having a long playback time or a list having a lot of items is processed in spite of the small screen size of the mobile terminal.

1 . A method for scrolling digital content in a mobile terminal embedded with a touch screen, the method comprising:
 receiving via the touch screen a user's dragging input drawing a circular trajectory;   determining the scroll direction over the digital content based on whether the user's dragging input is clockwise or counter-clockwise and the scroll speed over the digital content based on the size of the circular trajectory; and   scrolling over the digital content according to the determined scroll speed and the determined scroll direction.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises:
 determining the scroll direction to be forward when the user's dragging input is clockwise and determining the scroll direction to be backward when the user's dragging input is counter-clockwise.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising,
 displaying on the screen multiple circles representing reference lines for circular trajectories which are mapped onto scroll speeds that are different from one another.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital content is a video file or an audio file, and the scrolling comprises searching the user's desired point on the timeline of the video file or the audio file at a high speed or at a low speed. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital content is a list of multiple independent items, and the scrolling comprises browsing the multiple items. 
     
     
         6 . A mobile terminal apparatus comprising:
 a touch screen which detects a user's input;   one or more memory in which a program for scrolling digital content according to the user's input received via the touch screen is stored; and   one or more processor which execute the program stored in the one or more memory,   wherein the program include instructions implementing the steps of:
 receiving via the touch screen a user's dragging input drawing a circular trajectory; 
 determining the scroll direction over the digital content based on whether the user's dragging input is clockwise or counter-clockwise and the scroll speed over the digital content based on the size of the circular trajectory; and 
 scrolling over the digital content according to the determined scroll speed and the determined scroll direction. 
   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the determining comprises:
 determining the scroll direction to be forward when the user's dragging input is clockwise and determining the scroll direction to be backward when the user's dragging input is counter-clockwise.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , the one or more program further include instructions implementing the step of displaying on the screen multiple circles representing reference lines for circular trajectories which are mapped onto scroll speeds that are different from one another. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the digital content is a video file or an audio file, and the scrolling comprises searching the user's desired point on the timeline of the video file or the audio file at a high speed or at a low speed. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the digital content is a list of multiple independent items, and the scrolling comprises browsing the multiple items. 
     
     
         11 . A computer readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing the methods of  claim 1 .